Iraqi archaeologist Clara Tannenberg and her husband, Ahmed Husseini, are putting together a team to seek cuneiform tablets that tell Abraham's version of creation, etched on clay a thousand years before the Old Testament version.

The announcement that they will seek these religious artifacts has particular significance given that an invasion of Iraq is imminent. Several different factions are concerned about what the discovery of such tablets would mean to religion today.

Ms. Navarro has crafted an intriguing adventure book that has what sells today: a dash of politics, a cupful of religious artifacts and lore, and brave characters determined to find the truth against all odds. The novel starts off slow, but moves quickly into the frantic pace that is so popular in this style of fiction.